Meant to be
by helaluvE
Summary: takes place 10 years after season3 finale. what if Ephram never came back from Europe? what if Amy meets him 10 years after he left? please read and review... chapter 8 is finally up!
1. Florence

Disclaimer: I still don't own Everwood! Even in this story…

A/N: I got this idea of new story two days ago, I wanted to finish "Home" first but I'm not planning on finishing it quickly so I decided to begin this one (I was afraid that somebody else may have the idea too…lol!). So here it is. Enjoy! Please review! I'm very enthusiastic about this story and I really hope you'll like it! Let me know what you think… I love constructive critics…so bring it on!

_**Chapter one: Florence.**_

"It's beautiful!" Meg said. "I think I've never seen something so beautiful!"

"Oh please Meg! It's just another old painting!" Amy said annoyed by her friend's enthusiasm. They have been in Florence for four days now and she has had enough of museums but Hannah and Meg were exited every time they passed by a new gallery.

"Amy, you better enjoy the tour," Hannah added "because I don't think you'll have another chance…" but Amy interrupted her:

"Hannah, I swear to God if you go with that "it's your last chance" crap again, I won't be responsible for what I do… to both of you!" she said with a warning tone, pointing a finger at them. Meg and Hannah were taken aback by their friend's reaction.

"Are you ok?" Meg asked worried.

"I'm sorry girls" Amy said with an apologetic tone when she saw the worry in her friends' eyes. "I just need to get out of here and breathe some fresh air. Don't worry about me and enjoy the end of the tour. I'll wait for you at the hotel." She finished smiling.

"Ok! Just call if there's something wrong, ok?"

"I will! But I promise I'm ok. I'm just…"

"Bored." Hannah and Med finished for her, laughing. "See ya!" Meg added waving Amy good bye.

Hannah met Meg nine years ago in her first year in Yale University. They were sharing the same dorm. Hannah was studying literature and Meg was studying mathematics. She was very dynamic and ready to enjoy every moment of her life; a little like Amy was before… before he left. Meg's hair were short and bright red, she had wonderful green eyes, she was tall but she was not thin though; she was well-shaped. She often told Hannah and Amy that she loved her big butty. The three of them quickly became friends, and then really close friends. They were doing as many things together as their schedule aloud them. For five years now, every year they visited a new country together during the summer holidays. They have already gone to Brazil, France, Tunisia, Turkey and this year was Italy. Amy was a doctor; she was her father's pride. She was working with him and the doctor Brown. For a little while she worked in a clinic in Utah but she did not like it so she came back to Everwood to work with the two other doctors. Hannah was a journalist in Denver and she was also an English literature teacher at Colorado A&M. As to Meg she was a math teacher in high school in New York. They have little occasions to see each other since they left college, that's why they established these visits; it was a wonderful way to spend their vacancy. Things were going to change though because Meg was getting married in six months so this trip was even more important, that's why it was longer than usual; four weeks instead of two.

Amy got out of the _Bardini_ museum and began to walk down _IL Ponte alle Grazzie;_ leaking an Italian ice cream.She was enjoying every moment.Florence was her favourite city of Italia. They have been to a couple of Italian city before but this one was particular; she didn't know why but she felt relaxed here, like if she was at home. It was beautiful. In two weeks she will to get back to Everwood and continue her life where she left it. She shook her head a little, not wanting to spoil her holidays. She was lonely, sad and even miserable sometimes but she needed to clear her head from all her problems that's why she came here.

The cloudless blue sky caught her attention while she was walking down the streets; she was looking up when she bumped into someone; doping her ice cream on one of the person's shoe.

"Oh! I'm so sorry!" she said finally looking down. When she met his eyes, she felt like she was about to collapse.

"Amy?" Ephram asked looking as chocked as she was.

A/N: yes i know! it's short but don't worry there's so much more coming up. so please be kind and review!


	2. Fate

Disclaimer: I don't own Everwood, I just own this story!

_**Chapter two: Fate.**_

"Eph…Ephram?" Amy stuttered. She could not believe her eyes. It was him, Ephram Brown; the one that had break her heart so many years ago by running away from Everwood, from his problems…from her. Several minutes passed, during which they stared at each other, like if they were searching for a confirmation that the other one was really here. Amy knew she had not changed a lot; her hairs were shorter but other than that, she was the same Amy he had left ten years ago, on the outside anyway. He, on the other hand, seemed so much different. He was skinnier, he looked so tired and so sad. Well, Ephram always had that sad look shadowing his beautiful blue eyes, but today it was different, it was worse. She never saw him that miserable.

He finally broke the silence, not with words though; he simply stepped closer to her and pulled her into a tight hug. First, taken aback by his gesture, she did not move but after a few second she hugged him back and smiled at herself. They stood like that in the middle of the street for what seemed like hours, neither of them wanting to break apart. After a few minutes Amy finally opened her eyes and was surprised to see that a group of people had gathered around them to watch them. She giggled and slowly pulled away. She tried to catch his eyes but he was looking away; trying to hide a tear that was pouring down his cheek.

"So…how are you?" he asked clearing his throat. "What are you doing in Florence?"

"I'm fine. I came as a tourist; it's my annual vacancy with Hannah and Meg."

"Hannah's here too?"

"Yeah. I left them both at the museum."

"Which one?" he asked.

"Bardini" she said blushing. He laughed at her attempt of using Italian accent. "Yeah I know my accent sucks, but hey, I hadn't the chance to spend eight years here! At least you didn't lose your English."

"How could I? I'm an English teacher!"

"Yeah I know. But I thought your father was joking. How could you be a high school teacher?" he laughed.

"That's a long story…" he simply replied. She looked right into his eyes realising how much she missed them. For the first time, he smiled. She had missed that too.

"Why did you leave them alone?"

"I was bored actually." They shared a giggle. "It was the fifth museum in two days…" she added rolling her eyes. It was weird, not just seeing him after so many years but the fact that it was so easy as well. They were talking and laughing like if nothing had changed, but the fact was that everything had. "How are you?" she finally asked.

"I'm ok, I guess. Better than yesterday, you know…"

"Yeah I know." She knew everything he had been through since his departure from Everwood but she knew it was not the right time to talk about it.

"I've to go." He said reluctantly. "How long are you staying in Florence?"

"We're going to Rome the day after tomorrow." She replied.

"When are you going back to Everwood?" he asked disappointed.

"We're going back to the United States in a week and a half but we're staying in New York with Meg for two weeks before returning to the Colorado." Silence fell between them. Ephram put his hands in his jeans' pocket and his voice was shaking a little when he finally asked:

"D'you wanna … I don't know maybe you already have plans, but you know we didn't… we could… I don't know maybe…"

"Ephram?" she said smiling

"Yeah?" he said looking up at her.

"Start again." she said giggling. He blushed a little as he remembered one particular moment where she pronounced the exact same words.

"Yeah… right, sorry!" he took a deep breath and looked right into her sweet brown eyes. "D'you wanna have dinner with me tonight?" She looked at him hesitantly. "Forget I said anything." He quickly said looking very disappointed. "You probably have other plans."

"No it's not that. Well, yes I do have plans but it's just with the girls, they'll understand." She did not know if it was a good idea but when she looked into his eyes and saw all the pain behind them, she took her decision.

"I'm staying at _Hotel Fiorita. _Come take me at 7:00." She said smiling and he smiled back.

"Ok sure… I better get going. See ya tonight." He said

"Yeah, see you tonight." They smiled at each other; neither of them knew what to do next. She took the initiative and kissed him softly on the cheek. He smiled on last time at her and turned around to leave. She watched him walk away for a while before looking through her purse for her cell phone. She dialled Hannah's number.

"Hello."

"Hannah you're not going to believe what just happened!"

Half an hour later, Hannah and Meg were seating on Amy's bed at the hotel while she was nervously pacing back and forth in front of them, biting her nails. She had told them every detail of her previous meeting with Ephram.

"I'm such an idiot! What was I thinking! I mean it's Ephram! How am I going to get myself out of that! Ten years! Ten years and now I have to deal with him again! I'm not sure I can do that! It's impossible! No, no, no, no, no, no, NO! I'm gonna call him, I'm gonna cancel tonight before it's too late." She was talking faster than she ever had, and she found it hard to catch her breath, like if she was running a marathon. Meg stood up and put her hands on Amy's shoulder.

"Calm down sweetie. Take a deep breath." Amy looked at her did what she said. Meg smiled at her friend. "Ok now, you can't cancel. One because you don't have his number!" the three of them shared a giggle. "And second," she carried on, looking at her with sympathy. "you want to go. Don't give me that look, I know you do. Just relax, it's a dinner with an old friend, that's all. I didn't know Ephram personally but I'm sure he just want to catch up with you… what are you so afraid of?" even as she was asking that she knew it was a stupid question. There was no word to explain how much Amy had loved Ephram and how much she was broken when he left. Now she had moved on with her life, she put together the peaces of her heart and was enjoying life again. Hannah, who had not said a word since they arrived in Amy's room, stood up too and hugged her friend.

"Amy, I know what you are feeling right now and I get that it's completely incredible but I also know that if you don't see him tonight you'll regret it forever. It's your last chance to see him!"

"Yeah she's right." Meg said. "It's like fate! We weren't supposed to be here and the day before we left we bumped into him…"

"What are you suggesting?" Amy asked frowning.

"We're not suggesting anything. It's just a dinner and despite your desperate attempt to hide it, I know that you miss him. So go, have fun, catch up and don't get pregnant…" Hannah added laughing. Amy rolled her eyes.

"Ok" she just said smiling. She turned to go take but froze when she remembered something. She turned to her friends her eyes wide open. "Oh my god! What am I going to wear?" Meg and Hannah looked at each other, rolling their eyes.

At 6:55 Amy, Hannah and Meg were seating in Amy's room waiting for Ephram to arrive. It took an hour but Amy found the perfect outfit for the night; black pants with a brown silk tank top. It was simple, not too sexy but sexy nonetheless and it fitted her perfectly. Her hair was held up in a pony tail and she was wearing brown earring she bought on the _Ponte Vecchio _yesterday.

"You look gorgeous!" Hannah said as Amy was looking at herself in the mirror.

"You think? " Amy asked more worried than anything. "I don't him to be misunderstanding..."

"I'm sure he won't." Med interrupted her, smiling. Then the phone rang, Amy picked it up.

"Hello." She said

"Hello Signorina. Signor Brown is waiting for you at the reception hall." The desk clerk with an Italian accent said.

"Ok. Grazzie. Tell him I'm coming." She hung up the phone and turned to her friends, a look of anxiety in her eyes.

"Oh come on Amy, enough with the drama! Go now, he's waiting." Meg said. "And don't worry we will call home to check on Thomas." She added knowing exactly what her friend was about to say and pushed Amy toward the door. Once Amy was out of the door, Hannah looked at Meg.

"We better wait for her return!" they said at the same time.

Ephram was waiting on the reception hall like the desk clerk told Amy. He was standing next to the door with his hands shoved in his jeans pocket and he was looking rather nervous too. Amy took a deep breath and walk toward him. He smiled when he saw her.

"Hey." He simply said.

"Hi" she said returning his smile.

"You're ready to go?" he asked.

"Yes." They walked silently out of the hotel and he led her to his car; it was a black Smart. She laughed when she saw it.

"Is this your car?" she asked.

"Yes it is. I know what you think but here the big American type is not that common."

"I guess." She said laughing. "It's just; it's so different than the last car I saw you drove."

"Yeah, I know…but things change." He said more seriously. Awkward silence fell between them.

"So…where are we going?" she asked trying to change the subject.

"We…hum we are going at my place."

"Oh…" she said, unsure.

"Ella is a little sick and I didn't want to leave her alone."

"Ok" she just said. He opened the passenger door for her and she got in. Then he got in himself and drove away from the hotel.

A/N: yeah I know it's a little confusing, especially Hannah's comment on pregnancy, but everything will be explained in next chapter, which will be here soon (I hope! Lol). Please review! I'm not sure where to take this story so suggestions and constructive critics are always welcome! Of course you can also review just to say that you liked it lol!


	3. Living without you

Disclaimer: I don't Everwood, I wish I was on the casting though!

A/N: here is chapter three; long with a lot of explanation. I really hope you'll enjoy reading it as much as I enjoy writing it.

_**Chapter three: Living without you.**_

Ephram was living outside of the city on a hill called _Cariggi, _that's why the ride took half an hour, but Amy did not mind at all. Looking through the window she realised how beautiful Florence was by night, it was definitely the most beautiful place she had ever seen. After long minutes of complete silence, she finally turned to look at him.

"At first I was wondering why you were not living in the city but after seeing this, I understand. It's beautiful." She said smiling.

"Yes it is." He simply said, still looking at road in front of them. "I've seen so many places and I even lived in several of them but I never really felt home, except here." He explained. 'It's quiet, peaceful and sometimes it even remembers me of Everwood." He added.

"I don't think I would qualify Everwood as 'quiet and peaceful'". She said laughing. "But I see what you mean." She added looking through the window again.

"Here we are." He said a few minutes later when they parked in front of his house. It was a beautiful little blue house with pale blue shutters and a veranda was surrounding it. There also was a little garden in the left side but Amy noticed that nobody was taking care of it because there was no flower blooming; instead the weeds had made their home there. She also noticed that another car was parked in front of the house.

They got out of the car and Ephram led them to the front door. In each side, the aisle was enlightened by two rows of with balls. Amy stopped when she saw the wonderful mosaic that was lying under their feet. It represented a peaceful prairie with flowers of all colours, cheery trees, butterflies and birds flying in blue sky. Although it was night, she could see that a lot of peaces were missing.

"Amy?" Ephram said waking her up from her reverie. "Are you coming?" he asked smiling and holding the door open for her. She smiled back and walked away from the master peace. When they came in, they were greeted by a man and a woman. He was tall and good-looking with the Mediterranean kind of look, dark short hair, dark eyes but they were full of kindness though, and he also looked like he hadn't shaved his beard in several days.

She, on the other hand, was not tall. On the contrary, she seemed even smaller standing next to him. She had brown long curly hair and beautiful green eyes.

"So how is she?" Ephram asked to the man, worried.

"She's fine." He replied. Amy noticed that he was speaking perfect English and that he did not have the Italian accent. "She's sleeping." He added and Ephram sighed with relief.

"Don't worry so much, Brown!" the woman said with sympathy. "It's just the flu." Then she turned to Amy. "Buona serra. You must be Amy, I'm Francesca and this is my husband Alberto." She said pointing at him. Her Italian accent was more pronounced. Amy held her hand and Francesca shook it.

"It's nice to meet you." Alberto said shaking her hand as well.

"It's nice to meet you too." She said. The three of them looked at each other, smiling then turned to look at Ephram who seemed to be in another world, a look of worry still in his eyes.

"Ephram?" Alberto said.

"Um? Oh yeah sorry." He said coming back to earth. "Alberto, Francesco Topolli, this is Amy Abbott..."

" The presentation are already made." Francesca said lauging. "Well, we've got a movie to watch and you have a lot of catching up to do; so we better get going." She added smiling. "It was nice to meet you, Amy."

"It was nice to meet you too, guys." Amy said with a smile. Francesca leaned and put a quick kiss on Ephram's cheek and turned to shook Amy's hand again while her husband was giving Ephram a small rap on the shoulder.

"Call if anything is wrong with Ella." He said and Ephram nodded.

A few second later Ephram and Amy were alone, still standing in the entrance hall.

"You should go check on Ella, I'll find my way to the living room, don't worry." Amy said smiling.

"Ok, I'll be back in two seconds." He said before rushing to Ella's bedroom. Amy turned around and began to look around the house. All the walls were white but lovely decorated with dozens of painting. After few seconds, she found the living room eventually. It was beautiful; the furniture was simple and little but the arrangement was perfect. There was a grand black piano on the corner next to the chimney. She made her way to the brown leather couch and sat down, looking at a particular painting hung above the piano. It represented a beautiful young woman with long dark hair and the most beautiful brown eyes she had ever seen. She did not know who painted it but he was clearly very talented. He had given so much life to the painting and mostly through the eyes of his model. _'It must be her…'_ Amy thought.

"You made it." Ephram said from behind her.

"I did." She said laughing and getting up to face him. "I don't know what you prepared but it smells very good."

"Well you must be bored with pasta but it's the only thing that I can cook without burning the house down." They shared a giggle. "The sauce is ready; I only have to make the spaghetti."

"Ok. Do you want some help." She asked.

"I think I can handle it." He said smiling. "But I will surely enjoy your company." he added. They headed to the kitchen and she watched him cook while she was seating on of the stool of the counter.

"How is Ella?" she asked, trying to make conversation. Ella was Ephram's daughter, she was three years old. After leaving Everwood ten years ago, Ephram travelled through Europe for two years. He went everywhere: France, England, Scotland, Spain, Germany, Belgium, and then Italia. He loved this country, he visited a lot of cities but when he came to Florence it was different, something was telling him to stay a little longer and that is what he did. After a few weeks he met Alberto who was studying languages. They became close friends and somehow Alberto convinced Ephram to take English and art history lessons in his college. They took a flat together and everything was great. In his second year Ephram met Carla. She was an art student. They quickly fell in love, they understood each other and for once in his life, things were not complicated. They lived together for one year before getting married. It was fast but they did not mind because they knew it was the right thing to do. Their wedding was beautiful; it was a great day because Andy, Delia, Nina, Sam, Bright and Hannah came too.

They were happy; she was working in a museum and he was an English teacher and he even began to play piano again. They spent their time travelling through the world, discovering new culture, new arts, and new languages. Carla was the first person, since Amy, to bring the best out of him. She was beautiful, generous, graceful and the nicest person he had ever met. She was an artist as well, like he was and she understood him. Three years ago she died giving birth to their first child, Ella. Ephram was devastated; another person he loved was gone and he did not know how to deal with it. So instead of trying, he let himself drawn into alcohol. Jane and Paul, Carla's parent took care of Ella during a year. Ephram loved his baby girl more than anything in the world but he was too broken, he could not take care of her. Plus, despite the guilt that this feeling was causing in him, he could not help but resent Ella for Carla's death. Days, weeks, months and finally a year passed by before he realised that he had to pull himself together. He went to AA meetings, he started working again and he learned how to take care of his baby.

"She's good, still sleeping." He answered while he was throwing the spaghettis in the boiling water. "I don't think you saw her?" He said pulling out his wallet from his pocket.

"Actually, Bright and Hannah had shown me picture from her baptism." She said. "But I'd love to see her again." she added while he was pulling out several pictures of his daughter.

"They were taken three months ago during her birthday." He explained.

"She's so cute." Amy said smiling widely. "She's got your eyes." She added looking up at him.

"Yeah but she remind me so much of her mother. She's got her smile and her cheekbone." He said smiling. "Oh I'm sorry. I forgot to ask; d'you wanna drink something?" he asked opening the fridge.

"Sure. A coke would be great she said."

"Are you sure? You can have something… stronger. It doesn't bother me at all."

"No thanks. Coke is perfect."

"So tell me," he said giving her the drink. "What is it like to work with my father, Dr Abbott?" he said teasing her a little.

"It's great… You know at first I wasn't sure if it was a good idea to work with our fathers but then I saw how important their work was for them and how great they are together. I learned so many things with them."

"Are they still fighting over everything?" he asked laughing.

"Yes! Yes they are." She said rolling her eyes. "Can you believe that they actually argue to know which one is going to open the door in the morning?" he laughed. "It's kind of funny, you know. As long as they don't involve me in their fights." She took a sup of her coke. "What about you, huh? How is work? You know I still can't believe you're a high school teacher? Italian student can't be that different from American student." She added smirking.

"Actually I like it. Some people think that it's the best work in the entire world. Well it's not!" she laughed. "It's exhausting, it's not well paid and teenagers, as you imagine, are not sweet angels. But I like it nonetheless."

"High school seems so far away." She said more seriously.

"It's because it is." He said seating down across of her. "How is Hannah?" he asked.

"She's good. She's thinking about staying at home during her pregnancy to write a book…"

"Hannah is pregnant?" he interrupted her, surprised by the news.

"Yes she is, they learned last week only though."

"Bright must be very exited."

"Oh yes! He already bought a dozen of toys, clothes and he is beginning to prepare the baby's room."

"I'll call him tomorrow. It's really great! They were waiting for this for so long now." He said. Then remembering something he added: "How is Thomas by the way?"

"I thought you'd never ask." She said. "He's good. He's staying with your father and Nina actually."

"Really?"

"Yeah. My mum and dad are in vacancy in Hawaii, and his father is on a business trip."

He looked at her hesitantly.

"What?" she asked.

"What what?"

"You had that look on your face. The one you have when you want to ask something but you're not sure if you should." He was slightly surprised that she still remembered such a thing.

"Well, Bright never told me the whole story; he just said that you were pregnant. It's ok if you don't want to talk about it, I completely understand."

"Don't worry, it's ok, I don't mind talking about it. It was such a long time ago. Bright must have talked to you about Reid."

"Yeah. His college roommate."

"Well we dated for a couple of month in my freshman year but it didn't work, we remained close friends though. One night in my fifth year, we got drunk and it happened. Nine month later, Thomas was born." She finished smiling.

"Are you guys still together?"

"Nah. We decided to keep the baby and he wanted to be a part of his life but we didn't work as a couple…" she got up from her seat to get her purse and pulled some pictures out of it. "It's Reid and Thomas during their summer holidays last year." Ephram took the picture and looked closely at it.

"They look very much alike." He finally said giving her back the picture.

"Yeah they do." She said with a smile; thinking of Thomas always made her happy, no matter what. "Not just physically." she added. "sometimes it amazes me…"

"I know what you mean. Ella is already three years old; she's growing up so fast and she looks more and more like Carla." His voice lowered when he pronounced his wife's name.

"I'm sorry Ephram."

"What do you mean?"

"I should've called." She said sighing deeply. "I should've been there for you."

"It's ok Amy, I understand. You had your own life."

"No it's not ok!" she said angry with herself. "I feel so guilty. You were having the worst time of your life and instead of support; all you received from me was… nothing." He just looked at her, waiting for her to continue. "It's just that I didn't know if you wanted to see me. I felt like I shouldn't be here with you."

"Well, I'm glad that you didn't come because I don't think I could have stood it." She looked at him questioningly. "I was a giant mess Amy. When I think of that Ephram I'm so ashamed. I didn't feel the will to live anymore. Once again life had played with me and had taken someone I loved away from me and I just couldn't bear it. I fell. I fell like no one has ever fallen. The worst part was I knew I was falling but I didn't care anymore." He stopped realising that he never talked to this to anybody, except his group of support. He looked up at her and when he saw all the care in her eyes he carried on. "When I left Everwood I thought I would never love again and then she came in my life and healed my broken heart with her kindness. You know I beginning to think that I'm lucky." He said half smiling.

"Really?"

" Carla was going to die anyway, she had a heart disease but I'm the lucky one because I met her before she was gone and she gave me the most beautiful gift in the world; Ella." Every time he was pronouncing her name, Amy noticed a spark in his eyes. She simply smiled at him knowing exactly how he was feeling. He got up to check on more time on the spaghetti.

"I think we are done here." he said. "The plate are already there, could you set the table please?"

"Of course." She said heading toward the kitchen table.

Dinner was very pleasant. Despite some awkwardness, they were both soon able to relax and enjoy each other company. In fact Amy was very surprised when she realised how easy it was, it was like he never left. That is what she loved so much with Ephram, it was easy to talk with him and have a good time, even when he was sad.

"I'm full." She finally said after her third spaghetti plate.

"Me too. I didn't know my food was that good!" he said teasing her.

"It was delicious Ephram. When did you learn?"

"You know, I spent three years on my own so I kinda had to. Spaghetti is the only thing I can cook without looking in the cooking book that Jane gave me."

"Huh… who's Jane?" she asked intrigued.

"It was Carla's mother."

"Was?"

"She died two years ago." He said with a sad look.

"Oh I'm sorry Ephram." She said with compassion.

"Yeah me too." his tone was more bitter then he had expected. "She was great. She and her husband, Paul, took care of Ella after Carla's death. I wasn't able to do it; in fact I wasn't even able to look at her."

"Why?"

"This is why I'm so ashamed of myself. I know it sounds horrible but I was so depressed and so angry…" he sighed. "For a long time I blame Ella for her death." A look of understanding crossed Amy's eyes.

"So what did you do?" she said crossing her arms on the table and leaning against it.

"Nothing. Except drinking too much. Then Jane died and Paul was too old to take care of a baby alone. So I finally decided to take my responsibilities and leave my stupid anger and fears behind me. At first it was really hard; I was sober again but I wasn't prepared. Luckily, Alberto and Francesca were there for me. Fran is a nurse, she works at the paediatric service of the hospital and she helped me a lot; teaching me everything I needed to know."

"And…um how are you now?" she asked with a look of concern in her eyes.

"If it wasn't for my baby girl I'd still be wallowing. I'm sober for two years, I'm teaching again and I'm moving on or at least I'm trying to." She smiled at him and silence fell between them for the first since the beginning of the evening.

"Paul and Jane, huh? Are they not Italian?" she asked after a little while.

"Actually, no. Paul is French and Jane was English. They met in Rome during their studies."

"So Ella is a hell of a mix, huh?" She said smiling.

"Yeah she is." He replied laughing. He stood up and began to clear away the table and she helped him. Once the last plate was in the dishwasher they went to the living with a cup of coffee in their hands. When they came in, Amy's attention was, once again, caught by the beautiful painting.

"It's beautiful." She said when she noticed he was looking at her. "Who did it?" she asked really curious to know who this genius was.

"Carla. It's a self-portrait."

"I didn't know she could paint."

"She…was a wonderful artist. She used to paint, to play violin and to sing as well."

"Wow!" Amy said really impressed.

"Yeah I know. She used to do so many things. Do you saw that mosaic on the aisle?"

"Yeah. I loved it. Did she make it too?" he nodded. She looked at him and saw that he was on the verge of tears and she understood his pain, she understood why he was so miserable. She had lost someone she loved too but it was different. Carla seemed to be like Julia was, caring and loving. She was great and she was taken away from the people who loved her. Now he had to deal with and in addition he had to raise a little girl on his own. She knew exactly how he felt. She hesitated at first but she couldn't help it; looking at him again she put her right hand on his joined ones.

"I'm really sorry Ephram." She said looking down at their hands; trying to ignore the fact that she was actually enjoying the touch. He did not respond but he squeezed her hand.

"Papa?" a soft and sleepy voice said behind them. Ephram quickly dried the tears that had finally fell down his cheeks and turned to see his daughter standing on the frame of the door; her teddy bear in her arms. She had black curly hair, pulled into a braid but the thing that stroke Amy were her eyes. She had the same stunning blue eyes that her father. She had seen them on the picture Ephram show her earlier but now that she was really seeing the little girl, it was even more obvious.

"Hey sweetie." He said clearing his throat. "Are you ok?" he asked worried. He stood up and came closer to her.

"Yeah I am Papa but I'm thirsty." He smiled and took her in his arms.

"Ok piccolina. I'll give you a glass of water but first I'd like you to meet a friend of mine." He said walking toward the couch where Amy was standing. Ella was sucking her thumb and her head was resting on her father's shoulder.

"Amy Abbott, this is Ella Carla Julia Brown; my daughter" he said smiling. He looked at his daughter and gave her a sweet kiss on the cheek.

"Wow! This is a great name and this is the sweetest little girl I've ever seen." She said smiling to Ella.

"Hi Amy." Ella said smiling to her.

"Hi Ella. It's nice to meet you." She said holding her hand to her. Ella's little hand shook Amy's one and they stared at each other, smiling. The little girl turned to her father and whispered something in his ear. Ephram leaned his head to hear more clearly and laughed at her comment. He throw a quick look at Amy and whispered back, loud enough for Amy to hear it too: "Yes she is." Amy looked at him quizzically but he ignored her.

"Ok young lady." He said looking at his daughter. "It's getting late so we go grab a glass of water and you'll go back to sleep. Ok?" she simply nodded and turned to look at Amy.

"Arivedertsi Amy." She said waving to her.

"Arivederci Ella." She replied waving back and laughing.

A few minutes later Ella was sleeping again and Ephram came back to Amy.

"She's so sweet." Amy said while he seated next to her.

"Thanks. She asked me if you were staying with us." They shared a giggle.

"I'm used to this kind of question with Thomas. He is worried about my dates…" she stopped realising how awkward it was talking about this with Ephram. He noticed her embarrassment and smiled at her.

"He still thinks you and R-Reid will get back together." She nodded. "It's kinda normal, you know."

"Yeah I know, but lately he was a little sad." He glanced at her questioningly. "Reid is getting married"

"Oh! I get it."

"So is this what she whispered to you?" she asked remembering their silent chat. "She asked if I was going to stay."

"No." he said laughing but he did not carry on, making her wait.

"This is mean!" she said hitting him on the shoulder.

"I see old habits die hard!" he said laughing and rubbing the spot where she hit him, pretending she hurt him.

"Oh come on!" she said, pleading him.

"She said you were pretty." He finally said avoiding her gaze.

"Oooooh! This is so sweet." She said smiling, trying to ease the awkwardness.

They spent the rest of the evening talking about everything: Everwood, Florence, family, friends and work. They were laughing and they both enjoyed it, knowing that it would not last long…They were having such a good time that they did not realised how fast the time was passing by. It was 2 in the morning when Amy looked at her watch for the first time.

"Dammit! I didn't realise how late it was! I bet Hannah and Meg are worried."

"They must be sleeping."

"Oh no! They're not. Believe me." He gave a questioning look so she reluctantly carried on. "I-I almost cancelled our diner. They know I was really nervous…" She said avoiding his eyes.

"I see. I almost did too." he said smiling. She returned her gaze at him.

"Really?"

"Yeah." He said laughing slightly. "I thought it could be weird after all this time… well I'm glad I didn't and I'm glad I didn't give you my number as well." They shared a giggle.

"Well I should probably call a cab and get back, it's really late."

"Are you sure? I mean you can crash here if you want." For the second time today; he blushed. He could not even remember the last time he had blushed in front of a woman. _'Probably in front of her.'_ he thought, annoyed. She simply smiled.

"It's ok; I don't want to bother you."

"I've a guest room, it really doesn't bother me and I'll be more reassured if you leave tomorrow, with the sun up and everything." She laughed lightly.

"What?"

"You know I'm 27! I'm not afraid of the dark anymore." He began to laugh as well.

"Seriously Amy, I'd rather see you stay. Plus Ella will kill me if she can't say good bye to you." She thought about it for two second before nodding.

A/N: that's it for today! I really hope you enjoyed it! I loved writing it so please let me know what you think by reviewing… if you have any suggestions, anything you'd like to see let me know about it!


	4. See you!

Disclaimer: I don't own Everwood, I just own this little story and all the things I made up. (I really wish I own Greg's number though! Hihihi!)

A/N: first I would like to thank everyone who reviewed; I can't tell you how much it means to me. Thanks!

Here's chapter four, hope you like it…

_**Chapter four: See you!**_

The next morning, Amy woke up with the scent of coffee all around her. She rubbed her sleepy eyes and looked at the watcher on her nightstand; it was 9:00 A.M. She smiled at herself when she remembered the previous night. Ephram and she remained awake until four in the morning, talking.

She quickly stood up, despite the lack of sleep she felt pretty good. She took off the t-shirt that Ephram had lent her and put her own clothes on. Then she went to the guest room bathroom. When she arrived at the kitchen she was greeted by Ephram, Ella, Alberto and Francesco.

"Good morning… to all of you" she said smiling.

"Boun giorno!" they all replied at the same time.

"Did you sleep well?" Ephram asked. Alberto loudly cleared his throat when he heard the question and Francesca threw him an angry look. Ephram and Amy decided to ignore them.

"Yeah!" she answered smiling. She seated next to Francesca on the last stool available; the two women smiled at each other.

"Here." Ephram said giving her a cup of coffee.

"Thanks." She said taking it. She took a long sup and then she looked at him. He remembered to put extra vanilla in her coffee. He was leaning over Ella, giving her kisses on her cheeks. Amy smiled at the picture she had in front of her and turned to look at Francesca who was giving her a meaningful look. Amy ignored her and looked down at her coffee, smiling. Ephram came to seat next to Alberto, across Amy.

"Oh I almost forgot, Hannah called half an hour ago." He said. Amy widened her eyes in disbelief.

"How did she…"

"She found my number in the yellow pages." Ephram said interrupting her. She laughed.

"What did she say?"

"She just wanted to remind you that you were leaving tomorrow and that you have yet to find Meg's present."

"Well I guess I should get going then." She reluctantly said. He looked down at his cup.

"Are you coming back?" Ella asked. Ephram and Amy glanced at each other.

"Well sweetheart. I probably will." She answered smiling. "But you have to promise me something first." She said standing up to come closer to the little girl. Amy leaned over her and whispered something in her ears. Ella laughed and nodded, and then Amy leaned and gave her a sweet kiss on the cheek while the little girl threw her tiny arms around her neck.

"Au revoir Amy." She said smiling and Amy laughed.

"Well, this is a smart little girl you have here." She said looking at Ephram.

"Paul taught her all the ways to say goodbye." He said smiling. "Give me five minute to change and we can go." He said heading to his room; she nodded.

Five minutes later Ephram came back; dressed and ready to go. Ella came running to him and he grabbed her in his arms.

"Ok piccolina, you stay with uncle Alberto and aunt Fran while I give Amy a ride to her hotel! I'll be back soon." He said giving her kiss on the forehead. "Be good, ok?" she nodded. Alberto and Fran stood up to say goodbye to Amy.

"It was really nice to meet you." Fran said hugging her quickly.

"Yeah, after all we heard…" Alberto was interrupted by the killing look his wife was giving him. "Hum…uh Have a nice flight, Amy." He said shaking her hand.

"Thanks. It was nice to meet you too." she said smiling and then she turned to Ella who was still in her father's arms.

"See you soon?" she asked. The little girl nodded and leaned to give her a kiss. "Bye Ella." Amy said smiling.

"Goodbye, Amy." Ephram gave Ella to Fran and he and Amy left.

The ride to the hotel was quiet but not awkward at all. When they arrived they both get out and stood in front of the hotel doors. They looked at each other smiling sadly, neither of them wanting the other to leave.

"It was really nice." She finally said breaking the sad silence.

"Yes it was… I've really missed you."

"And I've missed you too. I hope we won't let ten years pass before seeing each other again." she said looking in his blue eyes.

"I'll certainly come to visit when Bright and Hannah's child will be born." She nodded and the silence fell between them again. They looked at each other and came closer to hug.

"Take care." Amy whispered in his ears.

"You too." he said and gave her quick kiss on the cheek. They pulled apart and Amy dried the tear that was falling on her cheek, the one he had kissed.

"See you Ephram." She said smiling and heading to the doors.

"See ya… wait" he said remembering. He looked trough his jeans pocket and went out a peace of paper which he gave her. "My number." He said smiling and she smiled back. She waved one last time and entered the hotel.

Later that day, Ephram was reading a book on his couch while Ella was playing with her doll, seating on the floor. He looked up when he remembered something.

"Ella?"

"Yes Papa" the little girl said looking at her dad.

"What did Amy whispered to you this morning?" The little girl smiled maliciously.

"She told me that I was pretty too and that she wants me to bring you to Everwood soon." He smiled.

"What is Everwood Papa?"

A/N: I know it's short but I like it like that. Plus chapter 3 was very long.

Wow two chapters in one night…big up for me! Lol!


	5. Surprise!

Disclaimer: I still don't own Everwood. (Do you think I'd be in Mulhouse if it was the case? Lol.)

A/N: Here's chapter five (finally!). I'm really sorry for the delay but you know what it is… real life!

_**Chapter five: Surprise!**_

Time is amazing…

When you are a child you wish it would pass more quickly; wanting to be able to do whatever you want, on your own, without having someone forbidding you anything. But things changes, you change and you learn that time is a really precious thing because in the end of the day, you realise that you do not have enough of it… Amy learned it the hard way; losing so many people. Some of them died and others just left, leaving her alone with all this time that somehow seemed to pass more and more quickly. That is what she was thinking about on a December morning; the December morning he came back. She was in her office, looking at the falling snow through the window, lost in her thoughts when she heard Dr Brown screaming with joy. She rushed out of her office and saw something she did not see in years. Just in front of Louise's desk Andy was holding Ephram in his arms, both of them smiling widely. Behind them was standing a tall old man who was carrying a little girl in his arms and next to them was standing a couple. The four of them were smiling at Andy and Ephram. Amy's heart dropped in her chest. He was here. Ephram was here, in Everwood. She did not know what to do so instead of doing anything, she stood still smiling at the sight of the two men holding each other.

"Amy!" Ella said smiling widely. Amy waved at her while everybody turned around to look at her. Ephram and his father finally pulled apart and looked at Amy too. She caught his gaze but neither of them moved. It was like a picture. Everybody stood still looking at each other and smiling, simply enjoying the moment. Amy would never forget this picture.

Fran and Alberto decided to break the silence. He shook Andy's hand and she went to Amy.

"Hi." She said smiling. "Surprise!" Amy laughed and they quickly hug. "How are you?"

"Well…um… I feel a little dazed right now but I-I'm good… Really good." Amy answered. "What about you?"

"Urgh! I'm exhausted." She said rolling her beautiful green eyes. She turned to look at Andy who was holding Ella now and Ephram who was watching them. Fran smiled. "But it was worth it." She said giving a warm look at Amy who smiled. "Come!" she added taking Amy's hand and leading her to the old man.

"Paul, this is Amy Abbott, Amy this is Paul Simon." Fran said introducing them.

"It's nice to meet you." Amy said shaking his hand.

"It's nice to meet you too." he replied smiling. "Ephram told me a lot about you."

"Really?" He nodded smiling.

"Hi." Amy heard Ephram's voice behind her. She turned around and saw that he was just inches from her.

"Hi" she said pulling him into a hug. They quickly pulled apart and smiled at each other awkwardly. Since last summer they did not talk much except for few phone calls.

"I say, we all go to Sam's and have a big welcome back lunch." Andy suggested smiling, one of his hands still on Ephram's shoulder.

"But we still have patients…"

"Don't worry about that; Louise will reschedule." Andy said interrupting Amy and she smiled.

"It's an excellent idea." Harold said while shaking Ephram's hand; he had just stepped outside of his office. Andy, Alberto and Ephram took their luggage into Harold and Andy's office and when they were done, all of them went outside of the practice and walked down the snowy street toward Sam's. Nina was in her office when they arrived.

"I'll go get her." Andy said but Ephram grabbed his arm to stop him.

"Wait. I want Ella to surprise her." They exchanged smiles and Andy nodded.

"She'll love that." Ephram took his daughter from Alberto's arms and headed toward Nina's office, they stopped in front of the closed door.

"Okay piccolina, do you want to surprise Nina?"

"Siiiiii!" the little girl answered, nodding with excitation and Ephram laughed.

"Okay." He said and put her down before knocking at the door.

"Come in." Nina said. Ephram opened the door for his daughter and hid himself while she was coming in. Nina looked at the young girl a little puzzled.

"Hi." She said without recognising her.

"Good morning Nina." Ella said running to her. Andy's wife quickly stood up and took her in her arms.

"You know me?" she asked looking into Ella's eyes and at that moment it hit her. "Ella? Oh my god!" she said hugging her tightly.

"Hey." Ephram said showing himself for the first time. He smiled when he saw the surprise and the happiness in his step- mother's eyes. Nina ran to him and hugged him tightly, still holding Ella in her arms. "Oh my god Ephram! It's so good to see you!" She finally said, letting a cascade of tears falling down her cheek.

"What are you doing here? How come you didn't tell us?"

"That's why it's called a surprise." He said teasing her. She laughed and hugged him once more. At that point Andy, Amy and the rest of the group had joined them.

"Uh… I suppose you remember Francesca and Alberto." Ephram said pointing at his friends.

"Of course." Nina said holding a hand to them and drying her tears with her other hand.

"And this is Paul, Ella's other grand father."

"Yeah I know. It's really good to see you all again." She added literally beaming.

"Now that the surprise is done, can we eat? I'm starving!" Alberto said and they all headed back to find a table.

Time is weird…

Ten years had past, yet this lunch seemed so natural, so pleasant, and so great. It was like if nothing had changed, except that everything had. After all she was surrounded by quasi- stranger (except for Andy, his wife, her dad and Ephram) but Amy felt really comfortable; laughing at Alberto's bad jokes, listening to Andy, Harold and Paul talking about medicine, talking with Fran and Nina about Meg's nearing wedding. Everybody was happy but the happiest of them was certainly Andy. He did not see his son since last year and he was really missing him. They were getting along for a long time now. Ephram had forgotten his father many years ago and they often saw each other, especially since Carla's death. Andy had taken six months off when he learned that Ephram became alcoholic and he helped him through this hard time. This experience had brought them closer.

"I have to call Delia. She wasn't supposed to come back this week end from Denver but I'm sure she will now." Andy said to Ephram.

"How is she? I missed her so much." He said.

"She's good. She's got this new boyfriend… I already hate him." he said exasperated and Ephram laughed.

"Don't listen to him!" Amy said. "I met him, he's really nice."

"His name is Harry, he's 25 and he's a music teacher." Nina added, giving him a meaningful look.

"Really? How come she didn't talk to me about him? I called her like 2 days ago and she didn't say anything."

"Well, it's kinda new, I guess she waiting to see where it goes before she demand the big brother judgement." Amy said smirking.

"I see." He said grinning. "So how many rooms are left in the hotel?" he asked Nina who also owned a hotel now. Two years after the opening of Sam's and the success of her restaurant she wanted to complete her enterprise and with Andy's help she built a hotel above Sam's. Nina was an incredible business women and everybody was impressed by her achievement. Andy and she got married two years after Ephram's departure from Everwood (Andy's son and Carla had come to the wedding) and they had two children Claire and Chris. Two very different twins in personality and in looks; Claire was a younger version of Nina with bright blond hair but was as stubborn as Andy was. Whereas Chris looks a lot like Ephram and had Nina's kindness. They were seven now. Sam and Delia were in college; he was in his somophore year as a literature student and she was finishing her psychology curriculum.

"Are you kidding me?" Nina and Andy said at the same time.

"What? You're not expecting the five of us staying at home with you guys. With Sam and Delia coming back for the holidays there will be no room left for us." Alberto, Fran and Paul looked at each other.

"We have a solution here." Paul said to Ephram. "We suggest you and Ella stay with your father and the three of us will stay here at the hotel."

"No!" Andy, Nina and Ephram said at once.

"It's only for a week, plus you must be missing your old home and as you said it they can't take the five of us but they can take you and Ella." Alberto said.

"But…"

"No but Brown!" Fran interrupted him. "You're staying with your family. End of discussion."

"But…"

"Why is it that you always want to argue? I said you're staying with your family. END OF DISCUSSION!" she repeated her eyes looking menacing. The group burst out with laughter and Ephram agreed to stay with his family.

"It's settled then, but I'm not charging you anything." Nina said.

"No! We can't accept…" Paul tried but she cut him.

"You're family too. So I'm not charging anything." She said using the same tone Fran used with Ephram a few seconds earlier. Andy and Alberto looked at each other and laughed at their wives.

"I see my father has a bad influence on you!" Ephram said smirking.

Ella was had fallen asleep on Andy's lap. Therefore, they all decided it was high time to bring Ephram and his daughter home while Nina would bring Alberto, Fran and Paul to their room.

Delia was in her room looking for a missing paper when she heard the front door being opened. She went downstairs to greet her dad and Nina. When she arrived she saw luggage next to the door and heard laughter coming from the kitchen.

"Delia still hasn't called me back." Andy said a bit of worry in his voice.

"She's probably too busy with Harry…" Ephram said teasing his father. When she heard his voice Delia ran to the kitchen.

"Oh my god!" she said stopping at the frame of the door, her eyes filled with tears. "Ephram!" she said running into his arms. Andy and Nina smiled at each other and she cuddled herself in his arms.

"What are you doing here?" Delia asked still in her brother's arms, not wanting to let him go.

"Are you not happy to see me?" He asked faking offence. She hit him on the back.

"Don't be silly! Of course I am!" she said finally pulling away, a wet smile spreading on her sweet face.

She looked at Amy who was holding Ella's hand.

"Oh my god! Ella. Come here sweetheart." She said opening her arms to her niece. The little girl ran to her aunt and jumped into her arms. Delia proceed on giving millions kisses on her cheeks and Ella could not stop laughing.

"Hey, we're here for two week so give my daughter some air." Ephram said laughing and Delia smiled.

"You're so tall." She said to her niece. "She's beautiful." She said turning to Ephram. He looked at his watch and to his daughter who seemed really exhausted.

"I think it's time to take a nap piccolina." And the little girl nodded while he took her from her aunt's arms.

"I'll take care of that." Delia said. "Don't worry! Contrary to you, I was there when Claire and Chris were young…" she had added that when she had seen the look of worry in his eyes but she did not know she was going to hurt him.

"I'm sorry Ephram… I didn't mean to…" she stuttered. She knew he was feeling guilty for being absent from the twins' life.

"It's okay." He said trying to smile again. "Her stuff is in the entrance hall." She nodded and leaned to give a quick hug at her brother.

"It's the best Hanukah gift ever." She whispered, smiling.

"Means I can return your actual gift?" he asked smirking; she gave him an annoyed look and took her niece upstairs to Ephram's old room.

Ephram turned to face his father, Nina and Amy who were still smiling.

"I'm glad I still have an effect on you." He said laughing. He did not remember the last time he felt so happy. He opened the fridge, took a bottle of water and sat on the counter. At that moment someone opened the kitchen door and a very pregnant Hannah came through it.

"Hi Nina, Dr Brown. Hey Amy what are you doing…" she stopped and looked at them quizzically when she saw the look on their faces. She did not notice Ephram yet. "What's going on?" she asked with a chuckle.

"I can't believe you're still calling my dad Dr Brown!" Ephram said finally getting up. "After all he's your neighbour for eleven years now."

"Ephram! Hey." She screamed. He came closer and gave her hug. "Wh-What are you doing here? Oh my god, Bright is going to freak out. He just came back from work, I'm gonna get him." and she disappeared through the door. When Nina had moved with Andy, Nina's old house stayed vacant for 2 years until Bright and Hannah got married and decided to buy it.

"When is it going to end?" Ephram asked laughing.

"It's your fault!" Amy said. "You should have warned us. I nearly had an attack in the practice." A few seconds later Hannah was back dragging an annoyed Bright behind her.

"Hannah, I can walk alone. And what's with all the excitation? It's just the Browns…" he stopped when he saw Ephram standing between Amy and Andy.

"What's up maaaaaan?" he said giving him a manly hug. Ephram laughed at his friend who had not change through the years.

"Nothing much, just passing by." He said shrugging and Bright smiled.

"We have to celebrate!" Hannah said putting her arm around her husband's waist.

"I say we all have dinner together tonight." Nina suggested, sounding really excited.

"Good idea!" Bright said.

"Of course it is! No matter what the idea is as long as it involves food, Bright is happy." Ephram said teasing him.

"I'll call my mum and we can all help you Nin'." Amy suggested.

"Okay."

"Shoot! I have to pick up Thomas." Amy said looking at her watch. "But I'll come back with him and mum."

"Don't worry about your mum and dad, we'll call them." Andy said.

"I'll just come with you and after we'll pick up the rest of my troupes." Ephram said.

"Sounds good to me." Amy said smiling. Hannah and Nina exchanged meaningful looks.

"Wait!" Nina said before they leave. "Chris and Claire will finish school in less than half an hour…"

"We'll pick them up too." Amy finished, smiling. "I'm sure mister jerk over here will be delighted to cause other heart attacks." She said pointing at Ephram with a smirk.

"First of all I'm not a jerk and second of all I don't think Claire and Chris are old enough to have heart attacks." He said smirking back at her.

"Who's the doctor here?" she asked raising an eyebrow.

"Well remember me to never ask for your advice in that particular area…" they left the house carrying on with their false argument.

"Okay! We have a lot to do." Nina said turning to the ones left in her kitchen. "Honey, Bright," she said looking to the two men. "you'll be in charge of the grocery shopping! I'll make you a list." Then she turned to Hannah. "Hannah, sweetie, you should…um get some rest." She said hesitantly knowing how touchy she is since her pregnancy.

"I don't need to rest." She replied firmly.

"But sweetheart…" Bright stopped and looked down at his hands when he saw the killing look his wife was giving him. Somehow she seemed taller than he was since she was expecting their baby.

"Okay then, go get Delia. We'll get started as soon as these two will be back." Nina said. She quickly wrote the grocery list and handed it to her husband. "Go! Fast!" she said. Andy and Bright left slightly relieved to leave their nervous wives behind. Hannah heard her husband asking Andy why Ephram talked about "troupes" and she acknowledged it was weird too. She asked the same question to Nina.

"Ephram brought with him Paul, Alberto and Francesca." Nina said giving her a look. Hannah quickly made the counting in her head.

"Seventeen? We'll be seventeen tonight?"

"Well eighteen if you count your baby…" Nina said.

"I hope we have enough chairs." Hannah said and the two women shared a giggle.

"I really don't mind though." Nina added. "The last time I saw Andy as happy, it was at Ella's birth. He was so worried about them."

"Yeah I know… oh my god! Did you saw Ephram and Amy?" Nina nodded and they shared another giggle. Just then, Delia entered the kitchen.

"She's asleep." She said to Nina. "Oh hey, Hannah. What's up?" Nina and Hannah looked at each other and proceed on telling everything that happened while her absence.

"So, I'll finally meet the only man of your life." Ephram said to Amy while she was driving them to Thomas's school. She looked at him and smiled

"Well, I met the only woman of your life like five months ago; I say it's about time you meet my significant person! Before I forget, you said to Delia you were staying two weeks but at lunch, Alberto said you were staying just one week."

"Albert, Fran and paul are going back after Christmas but I'm staying a little longer with Ella." He explained. They parked in front of the kindergarten and they went out of the car. Amy noticed her son walking out of the small building with two of his friends. When he saw her too, he quickly said goodbye to his friends and ran to his mum. She kneeled down and opened her arms for him.

"Hi handsome!" she said kissing him on his cheek. "How was your day?" she asked looking in his eyes.

"Great! I made you a Christmas card." He said handing her the red card he was holding in his tiny hands. "And I made one for daddy too."

"Awwww! Thanks sweetheart." She said kissing him once more on his cheek. She looked up at Ephram who was smiling. "Thomas, this is Ephram Brown, one of my old friends." The young boy looked at him and thought for a second.

"Aren't you Chris and Claire's big brother?" he asked.

"Yes I am." Ephram said holding his hand to him and he shook it.

"It's nice to meet you. Chris and Claire always talk about you."

"Nice to meet you too. I heard a lot about you as well." Amy looked at her watch.

"We better hurry up." She said taking her son's hand and heading to the car. Five minutes later they were in front of the twins' elementary school, waiting for them. Ephram was looking with apprehension through the crowd of excited children and tired parents. Amy pointed them in the middle of a group laughing and saying goodbyes. Ephram was shocked to see how much they grew up since the last time he saw them. He remembered that day. It was Delia's graduation day, a couple of months before Carla died. The twins were three years old at the time. For the second time of the day, he felt guilty for missing so much of their lives. Of course they wrote to each other, they often called each other and they send each other pictures, but it was not the same. Amy noticed his sad expression and put a hand on his shoulder.

"Look!" she said. "Claire saw you." She added smiling. He looked up and saw his sister running to them with a huge grin on her face. At first, Chris looked at his sister with confusion, but then he saw Ephram too and began to run as well. They jumped on him at the same time and the three of them fell in the snow, laughing hard.

"You're back." Chris said smiling widely.

"I am, indeed. For the holidays… two weeks!" he said with a huge smile.

"It's about time!" Claire said hitting him.

"Don't hit him." Chris said angrily at his twin. She ignored him and turned to face Amy and Thomas.

"Hi" she said smiling and waving.

"Hi" they both replied, waving back at her while she was getting up and dry the snow from her coat. Ephram and his other sibling were still playing in the snow.

"Guys, I hate to interrupt but Nina must be freaking out by now… we still have to pick up Paul, Alberto and Fran from the hotel so we should really get going." Amy said with a smile. The two brothers reluctantly got up and they all went to the car.

When they arrived, the men (Andy, Bright and Harold) were in the living room, cautiously and deliberately avoiding the kitchen area. Ephram, Paul, Alberto Thomas and Chris joined them while Amy, Fran and Claire went to join Nina, Hannah, Rose, Delia and Ella in the kitchen. In fact things were under control but the women loved that frightening power they had over their men: cooking and organisation. Claire sat next to her niece and began to play with her.

"Sam isn't here yet?" Amy asked while helping Hannah with the vegetables.

"He called. He should be here just before dinner." Nina answered. Ephram came into the kitchen and sat beside his daughter who gave him a sweet peck on the cheek. The rest of the room looked at him whether with questioning looks or their eyebrows rose with surprise.

"What?" he asked frowning.

"It's a restricted area." Fran said.

"When she says restricted, she means free-man area!" Delia added smirking.

"Ouh! I'm scared!" he said crossing his arms and faking shudders. "I'm here for Ella." He turned to look at his daughter. "Do you want Papa to leave?" he asked.

"No I don't but you have to." she said with a sad look and everyone else in the room burst out with laughter.

"Well I never thought I'd see the day where my own daughter will betray me." He said, getting up. He was about to head toward the door when he turned around and began to tickle his daughter.

"Papa… stop Papa I can't breaze…please Papa… okay, you can stay." She said giving up. At that moment he took her in his arms and gave her kiss on her forehead.

"I was just kidding, I just wanted to see you, piccolina." Then he put her back in her chair and went back to the living room. Hannah and Fran were watching closely at Amy during the scene and when everybody went back to their work they looked at each other smiling.

"Hannah can I put this in your oven, this one is already taken." Rose asked pointing at the second roast they preparing. Hannah took it as the chance she was waiting for.

"I'll take care of that." She said smiling and taking the dish from her mother-in-law's hands. "Amy, can you come with me?" she asked trying to sound as casual as possible.

"Sure."

"I'll come with you guys." Fran said. "Um…I'm dying to see your house." She added quickly as an answer to the curious looks she was receiving from Amy, Delia, Nina and Rose.

Hannah put the roast in the oven and turned to look at Amy and Fran.

"Is something wrong with the roast?" Amy asked confused.

"Nothing's wrong." Fran said while she placed herself beside Hannah. The two women looked at Amy with curiosity.

"What's wrong?"

"Nothing… we were just curious." Hannah said.

"Curious about what?"

"About you and a certain handsome blue eyed guy…" Hannah explained smirking.

"What?" Amy said blushing a little.

"Brown!" Fran specified with excitation.

"Come on, we saw the way you were looking at him." Hannah said crossing her arms above her belly.

"I wasn't looking at him like that. Not in the way you think I was." Hannah and Fran rolled their eyes and they went to stand in each sides of Amy.

"Don't give me that crap, Amy. I know you."

"And I know Brown. I saw the way he was looking at you." Fran said with a smile. "Since your visit last summer, he didn't shut about you." Amy couldn't help but smile a little. She mentally slapped herself for doing that. She could not fall. She could not let that happen again. She let herself go from their grasp, took a deep breath and turned to face them again.

"I can't." she said and with that she went out, leaving a puzzled Fran and a sad Hannah behind her.

Sam arrived at 7:30 while the women were settling the table. He kissed his mum and greeted the others, and then he rushed to the living room. Nina smiled at herself when she heard the men greeting him and the reunion of the two step-brothers.

"Man! You're taller than I am." Ephram said. "It's so unfair!" He said faking frustration. "When I left I was a giant in comparison to you."

"What can I say? I'm lucky." Sam said teasing him. Fran and Amy arrived at that moment with Claire and Ella.

"Thomas and Chris, come wash your hands dinner is ready." Amy said and they all went to the bathroom.

Fran helped Ella while Amy was keeping an eye on the older ones.

"Amy?" Fran said hesitantly.

"Yeah?"

"I'm sorry for what happened. I didn't mean to hurt you."

"I know, it's ok. Don't worry. It's my fault. I shouldn't have left like that. I mean, what you said was right but it can't happen... not again." she said looking down at her hands. Fran put a hand on her shoulder and smiled warmly at her.

"It's ok, I understand."

"We're done!" Chris, Claire and Thomas said.

"Okay then. Let's go."

Bright and Alberto had brought the table and chairs from kitchen and put them next to the dining room ones. Regarding the situation, the women had made a real miracle. They managed to prepare a meal for seventeen people in less than five hours, everything seemed delicious and in addition they did not seemed tired at all. The men looked at them with admiration.

"It's a team work." Nina said seating down next to Andy and Sam.

While he was eating, Ephram took a look around him. Everybody seemed so happy. He was happy. He never thought it was possible but it happened. He was happy again. He looked at Nina and his father and the love they had for each other and for each of their children. He looked at Rose and Harold who were smiling at each other like if they got married yesterday. He looked at Bright whose hand was on Hannah's belly, both of them smiling. He looked at Fran and Alberto and saw that she was scolding him because he had blobbed his shirt but he did not seem to mind, he was looking like if nothing could be better than this. He looked at Amy and Thomas who was handing her some bread after she had put more mashed potatoes in his plate. He looked at Chris, Claire, Delia and Sam and realised how much he would have loved to see them grew up. Then he turned to look down at his baby girl. She was eating her vegetables and talking with Paul.

"I love Everwood." She said smiling.

"You barely saw it." Ephram pointed out.

"I've seen enough." She said before taking a sup of her lemonade.

"I'm glad you kept your promise." Amy said smiling at her.

"Me too." but it was not Ella who had replied, it was Ephram.

Time is precious and admirable…

"_Especially times like these."_ They all thought.

A/N: I loved writing this chapter so I hope you'll like it! Please review!


	6. One happy Christmas

Disclaimer: I don't own Everwood, because if I did it wouldn't be in danger of being cancelled… (Hate you CW!)

A/N: this story inspires me and even though I had my finals in less than two weeks I decided to right a new chapter instead of studying… I hope you like it. Thanks for the review; I loved them!

_**Chapter six: One Happy Christmas.**_

Ephram woke up the next morning feeling completely invigorated. He glanced at the clock which was showing 9:42; he had not sleep a lot but he was not tired. He turned to look at his daughter who was lying beside him.

"Buon giorno Papa." a very awake Ella greeted him.

"Buon giorno piccolina. How long have you been up?"

"A little while."

"You didn't miss your bed?"

"No." she looked at him and laughed.

"What?" he asked amused; he loved her laughter.

"You stole Sam's bedroom." He laughed too.

"I didn't still it, I borrowed it, and technically, WE stole it. Beside this was my room before it became Sam's."

"Really?" she asked surprised.

"Yeah. For three entire years, I slept here."

"Did you miss it?"

"A little."

"Did you miss Everwood?" He thought about it for a few seconds. When he left, he was angry and he thought he would never feel the need to come back. Then he met Carla and even though he was happy with her in Florence, somehow he always missed his old home. Despite his anger and his sadness, Everwood would always have a special place in his heart.

"I did." He answered. She sat on the bed and leaned to give him a hug.

"Papa," she whispered in his ears. "I'm hungry." Ephram laughed warmly. They dressed up and went downstairs.

"Morning." Sam and Delia greeted them.

"Morning." Ephram replied while his daughter was running into her aunt arms. "Where is everyone?"

"Dad and Nina are at work and the twins are at school." Delia replied still looking at Ella.

"And what are you doing here. Aren't you supposed to be at… what is it again? Oh yeah, college?" he asked smirking.

"My last final was two days ago, I'm done with school for two weeks and a half." Sam answered grinning.

"Lucky you. I'll never be done with school." Ephram said while giving Ella a bowl of cereals and a glass of apple juice. "And you?" he asked Delia.

"My next class is this afternoon; I'll be leaving in an hour. But I don't want to." She said smiling at her niece.

"Dad said you weren't coming before next week." He said remembering the conversation they had at Sam's.

"I wasn't. I left a paper here; I was just passing by."

"Are you coming back soon?" Ella asked.

"Sure. I'll be back tomorrow night; for the week end. Don't worry; Sam will play with you." She added smiling.

"He's a boy." She said making a face and Delia laughed.

"I'm a boy too." Ephram said seating down across of her, a cup a coffee in his hand.

"You're my dad, it's not the same…" she pointed out and the two men laughed.

"Talking about boys." Ephram said looking at his sister. "I had an interesting conversation with dad, yesterday." Delia quickly looked up. "Who is Harry?" he asked, trying not to laugh.

"If I were you, I wouldn't go there." Sam said getting up. "It's top secret." He added before leaving the kitchen.

Delia rolled her eyes and returned her attention to Ella. Ephram looked at her impatiently.

"It's not interesting." She simply said.

"On the contrary, it's very interesting."

"No it's not. At least not yet. So could you please drop it?"

"Okay." He said shrugging, a little disappointed.

"He's coming to the new year's eve party…" she reluctantly said and he smiled. "I better get ready for school." She said getting up. When she left, Ephram looked at his daughter and sighed deeply at the thought that one day it is with her that he will be having this kind of conversations. Somehow it felt more frightening than playing in front an entire audience.

The morning quickly passed by. Ephram undid his luggage and he and Sam brought Claire's old bed in his room, for Ella. At noon, Hannah came to see him and they had lunch together. They talked and laughed for an hour before she had to leave. He spent the afternoon with his daughter, watching TV. Sam went to pick up the twins from school and when they came back, they spent the rest of the afternoon with Ephram and Ella, playing with snow in the backyard.

Ephram was delighted to see how comfortable his daughter was with his family. For nearly four years now, he had tried to fill the whole that Carla had left behind her. Alberto, Fran and Paul had helped him, playing the role of a subsidiary family, being there for them at anytime. Somehow, he forgot that he also had a family here, a family that loved him and his daughter and who was worried. After only 24 hours with them, he felt that for the first time the whole has been completely filled. He was surprised to see that he did not want to leave them. He remembered telling Amy that Florence felt like home. It had felt like that but now that he was watching Ella, Claire and Chris throwing snowballs at Sam, he realised that Everwood was the only place where he really felt complete. Everwood was his home.

Ella came running to him and jumped into his open arms. He kissed her red nose and she giggled.

"It's cold." She said laughing and nuzzling her small body into his arms.

"Do you want to come in?" he asked, already knowing the answer.

"No!" she said and he laughed.

"Okay, ten more minutes and then you go take a bath." She nodded and kissed him. He put her down and she ran to Sam who fell down, laughing.

It always is the same thing. Every time you are enjoying yourself, every time you are happy, time seems to speed up his race. Before they even realise it, the Browns and their guests were having their Christmas Eve dinner, at the Abbotts. It seemed that Rose decided to celebrate Ephram's come back by inviting the entire population of Everwood. The living room was crowded and Amy could barely see who was here and who was not. She knew Meg and Reid must be somewhere since she saw them arriving but, right now, she just could not find them anywhere. She wanted to introduce them to Ephram but as she turned to look for him, he seemed to have disappeared as well. She decided to take some fresh air; she took a coat that she had found in the entrance hall, not caring to whom it was, as long at it seemed clean. She went to the backyard where Bright's old seesaw was still standing. She took a deep breath and immediately felt better. She looked around her and noticed that someone was seating on of the swing.

"hey." Ephram said.

"Hey." She said smiling. "I thought I lost you." She added chuckling.

"Well, my father was beginning to tell another embarrassing story about me… he can do that without me." She laughed, "Plus you know me, I'm not into parties. What about you? What are you doing here? Wearing my coat, none the less."

"Same as you; I was running out of oxygen. Am I aloud?" she said pointing the seesaw next to him.

"Of course." He said while drying the snow off it so she could seat. "You never told me that Reid was marrying one of your best friends."

"I'm really happy for them. Plus I already told you Reid and I never really loved each other, at least not like that. He's just a friend with whom I had a child." They shared a laugh. "Meg and him are right for each other, they really love each other and that's all that matter." She said looking at him intently. "So you met them?"

"Yeah Bright and Hannah introduced us. They are really nice. I also met her twin sister…"

"Nicole."

"Yeah. I saw Laynie too. She changed so much; I can't believe she has three kids and a husband."

"Yeah I know I was too, but she's happy…"

"Where are our kids?"

"Thomas is with Chris, Ella is sleeping in my old room and Claire is with Delia." He nodded and rubbed his hand to warm them. "So I didn't see you since you arrived. How are you?" she asked.

"I'm really good. It's nice to be back. I've spent the last four days talking, laughing; catching up… it was great." She smiled. "Oh and I went shopping with my father. I can't believe he waited this week to make his Christmas shopping." They laughed. "What about you?"

"Nothing much. So Ella like it here?"

"She loves it. I don't know how I'm gonna put in that plane next week." Amy looked at her hands trying to hide her sadness. "I think she's lonely there, you know. Fran and Alberto don't have children yet so she's not used to be surrounded by kids. I never saw her this happy."

"You seem happy too." she added smiling.

"I am."

"So why don't you stay." She said before even realising it.

"What?" he asked surprised. He never considered the idea of staying; he just decided to come more often, but not coming back.

"It's just that I never saw you this happy Ephram since Carla's death and Ella loves it here. So why don't you come back to Everwood? This where you belong. We've missed you a lot…" she added in a whisper.

"I've you missed you too but…"

"Amy," Nicole yelled from the kitchen window, "you're mum needs you."

"I'm coming." Amy yelled back and turned to look at Ephram who seemed lost in his thoughts. "Think about it." she said getting up. She left and Ephram seat there for half an hour; thinking and rethinking Amy's words. She was right; he was happy and Ella was too. He thought about his father and Nina. He thought about his siblings. He thought about Bright and Hannah. Then he thought about Amy. When he was with her, everything was so simple, natural and pleasant. He had always missed her; there was no point in denying it. He remembered nine years ago when he nearly came back home when he realised he was still in love with her. He did not, thinking she was certainly over him and he had no right to put her through more pain. Now, she asked him to come back and as bizarre as it may seem he was exited by this idea.

"Hey." He jolted when he heard Fran's voice. "Sorry Brown I didn't mean to scare you."

"It's ok." He said trying to catch his breath. "What are you doing here? Where is Alberto?"

"I needed some air and Alberto is with Paul and your father talking about home. What about you? What were you doing outside for half an hour?" she said crossing her arms trying to protect her body from the cold.

"Nothing much, just doing some thinking."

"About?"

"Nothing… it's just… Amy told me something and I don't know what to do." He said sighing.

"I love it when you're explicit." She said smirking. "I saw her in the kitchen; she seemed a little confused too. What did she say?" she asked softly.

"She said that I should consider staying here… not coming back." He added looking at her unsure.

"Oh!" she said smiling. He was quite surprise to see her smiling; it was as if she knew this was coming. "What do you want to do?"

"I don't know." He said frankly.

"Well I'll just tell you this. Since she's been gone you were a real wreck, but last summer when you bumped into Amy, for the first time I saw new sparks in your eyes and not the one you have when you're around Ella. It was different. I watched you this last four days and I have to admit that I never saw you this happy. I don't know if it's Everwood or the snow or Amy but if you're happy here, then there's no other place you should be. Do you really believe that if you hadn't met Carla, you'd have stayed in Florence? I sincerely doubt it." She looked into his eyes and took his hand. "I just want you to be happy again, Brown." she added smiling. He squeezed her hand and smiled back. "Come on," she said, "let's go inside. My toes are freezing." She added laughing and they came back inside. When they arrived in the living room Ella was on Andy's lap and she was laughing hard. They were with Nina, Chris, Claire, Thomas, Amy, Bright and Rose. Ephram looked at them and he felt warmth surrounding his heart. Fran put her hand on his shoulder and she smiled.

"I love to see her laugh." She whispered with a meaningful look before heading toward the group. He smiled and joined them too. They spend the rest of the evening talking, laughing and remembering. The more time he spent with his family, the more he realised that the decision was easy to make. Sure, he will miss Florence, he will miss his friends and Paul. He will miss all the memories that he had with Carla and he was not sure he was ready to let them go but he was sure of one thing, Everwood was where he belonged. _"Ill just have to talk to her."_ He thought.

"Good morning Papa." Ella said to her father when he opened his eyes two days later. Today was the day where Alberto, Fran and Paul where going back to Florence.

"Good morning." He said smiling. He leaned over and gave her a kiss on the forehead.

"Don't be sad Papa. You'll see uncle Alberto, aunt Fran and Grandpa really soon."

"I'm not sad sweetie. I was just thinking."

"About what?" she asked concerned.

"About Everwood. There's something I want to talk to you about."

"What?"

"Do you like it here?" he asked.

"Siiii!" the little girl nodded vigorously. "Grandpa and Nina are great. Aunt Delia and Sam are really cool and I love playing with Claire and Chris." He smiled. "Why you're asking me that?"

"Would it be ok with you if we stay here?" Ella thought for a moment.

"You mean like… for always?" she asked. He nodded.

"But we can't live here; we don't have a house here." He laughed.

"The house is your only objection?"

"What objection means?" she asked frowning and he laughed again. They fell silent for a moment; both thinking. "Papa, I just want to be with you. If you want to stay, I'll stay. If you're happy, I'm happy." She added smiling.

"Me too piccolina. Me too." he said hugging her. He held her for a long time; smiling at himself and being grateful to God for her.

"So we're going to still Sam's bedroom for a little bit longer?" she asked smiling when they pulled away.

"We'll have to get back to Florence for a while first. When we'll come back here we'll have our own house."

"Grandpa and Nina are going to be so happy." She said smiling.

"I know, but I haven't talk to them yet."

"Let's do it now." She jumping out of the bed and running to the bathroom.

When they arrived in the kitchen, they found everyone having breakfast. They sat down and Nina served them bacon and eggs.

"Chris, stop annoying your sister." Andy said at his son before returning to his newspaper. Chris put his spoon down and turned to his mother.

"Mum can I go watch cartoons?"

"Of course, sweetie."

"No wait." Ephram stopped him. "I've something quiet important to tell you all." He said smiling and Ella began to laugh.

They all turned their attention to Ephram.

"Well, Ella and I were thinking that maybe… um it wouldn't be bad if the both of us came back… here."

"You mean for summer?" Claire asked.

"No I meant forever. Like coming back to live here." First, nobody moved, then smiles began to spread on everyone's face and Delia got up and hugged her brother.

"Oh my god." Nina said with tears in her eyes. Andy was smiling from ear to ear and he put a hand on his son's shoulder.

"Awesome, dude!" Sam said.

Chris and Claire were clapping in each other's hands.

"Does it mean you're ok?" he asked teasing them and they all laughed.

A/N: this last two days were like crap for me and for all the Everwood fans. The cancellation of this show is such an injusticeI'm really sad. I loved writing this chapter so

I really hope you like it. Please review, it'll ease my pain a little bit!

Everwood: September 2002- June 2006. Rest in peace. You were the best show ever and you'll always have a special place in my heart!


	7. Good byes, hugs and kisses

Disclaimer: I don't own Everwood.

A/N: I'm so sorry for the delay, I had exams but it's ok now (I passed!) I'll try to update more often. I wanted to add that I wrote chapter 5 before watching Foreverwood so Lily isn't mentioned but could you do me a favour and pretend that she was at the dinner family please? She's 9 and a half years old now. Thanks. Here it goes; chapter 7, hope you'll like it, please review.

_**Chapter seven: Good byes, hugs and kisses.**_

"I can't believe he's coming back!" Andy said. Nina and him were in their bedroom getting ready for the lunch they were having in half an hour with their friends and family; a good bye lunch for Fran, Alberto and Paul. Since Ephram told them he was coming back to Everwood this morning, Andy could not stop smiling and it was quiet contagious. Every body in the house was feeling lighter.

"I know sweetheart, I'm happy too." Andy looked at his wife. Sure, she seemed happy, she was smiling widely but she was not as surprised as he was. Nina always was the quiet type but this quietness was a little too odd. After all, Andy's dream was becoming true; Ephram was coming back. He was so excited he could not stand still for more than one minute. Nina on the other hand was folding a sheet and was humming the tune of a song she heard this morning.

"Do you think I should go with him? I mean to Italia to help him with everything."

"Andy, Ephram is an adult; I think he can handle this. Stop worrying so much." She said.

"You're right." He said smiling and shoving his hands in his pants. "Now, tell me." He said and she threw him a questioning look. "Since when do you know?" he asked smiling at his wife. Nina avoided his gaze.

"What do you mean?"

"Nin', I've known for nearly fourteen years, I'm your husband, I know a lot about you and I suppose the reason you're not that excited about the news of Ephram coming is because it's not news for you anymore." He said smiling, amused and she rolled her eyes.

"You're annoying when you think you're brilliant!" he laughed. "I talked with Fran two days ago; after the party and she told me she had an interesting conversation with Ephram. Apparently, Amy asked him to stay." Andy's eyes widened with surprise and Nina witness that a look of sadness flashed in his eyes. Andy knew that Amy must be a part of the reasons why his son decided to come back but he really hoped that he was coming back for them; his family.

"She didn't ask, she just suggested it." Ephram's voice was heard from behind them, he was standing in the frame of the door. "She might be the one who brought it in the first place but she has nothing to do with my decision." He said coming closer to them. They both raised a sceptical eyes brow at him. "Okay, she might have an influence on me," he said laughing "but this time I made an objective decision which might be the best I've made in my entire life. I'm staying because I want to. I'm staying because this is where I belong, where my daughter belong. I'm staying because I should have came back a long time ago. I'm staying because I've missed you guys, I've missed my home, I've missed Everwood. I'm staying because we're happy here." Andy and Nina's eyes were shining with tears and Ephram smiled at them. "Now come on guys my troupe is getting restless and your troupe is getting hungry." With that, they all went downstairs where everybody was waiting for them. They were all ready to go to Sam's and where already heading to the door when Ephram stopped them.

"Before we go, I have an announcement to make. Where are Bright and Hannah?" he asked scanning the group.

"They're waiting outside." Sam said. "I'll go get them, I already heard what you have to say and it's not that exciting after all!" he said smirking before going outside. When the couple arrived, Ephram spoke again.

"Okay I'd rather say it here. I don't want any screaming or crying at Sam's. I took an important decision." He looked at Fran who was winking at him, knowing exactly what he was about to say. He paused for a second before continuing. It was harder than he thought. Even though he knew Fran was happy for him, he also knew that the news was going to be a shock for Paul and Alberto. They were his family too…

"Okay… hum… I've decided to come back to Everwood, I mean permanently coming back." As he assumed, Bright and Hannah were beaming but Paul and Alberto looked rather sad. They tried to hide it with a smile but they failed. Hannah crossed the hallway and gave Ephram a bone-breaking hug, letting a cascade of tears fall down her cheeks. Ephram steadied them and smiled down at her, hugging her back.

"Damn hormones." She mumbled when she pulled away, drying her cheeks. They all chuckled. Bright came closer as well and gave his best friend a manly hug.

"It's great, man!" he said and Ephram smiled. Then he turned to look at Paul, Alberto and Fran. He looked at Nina who nodded.

"Come on guys, let's go." She said to the rest of the group, opening the front door and they all went out, leaving Ephram and his Italian family alone. Neither of them spoke for at least two minutes. They kept looking at each other with sad or nervous expressions on their faces.

"It's great, man." Alberto said echoing Bright's words.

"I know I should've talked to you before." Ephram said apologising.

"It's okay." Paul said with a small smile. "We knew it was coming." They all turned their eyes to Fran who was looking innocently at a vase and they all chuckled lightly.

"It's for the best." She finally said.

"And it's not good bye. I'll come visit very often and you can come here at anytime. You will always be welcome. You're my family too; I don't know what I would have done without you." He said trying to fight back tears.

"Hey, hey, hey!" Fran exclaimed raising a finger toward him. "You stop this right now!" She warned him. "I do not want to start crying, it's too soon for that." She said with teary eyes. Her husband put an arm around her thin shoulders and puller her closer to her before putting a quick peck on her hair. Ephram smiled at her and she smiled back

"Okay then, they're waiting for us and it's really cold outside." Paul said.

"Yeah, we better get going." Ephram added.

Half an hour later, the rest of the Abbotts had joined them at Sam's and they were finally eating. It could have been a silent and sad lunch where the only thing they would be thinking and talking about was the nearing good byes, but it was not. Alberto and Paul were smiling again and they were all –except Amy, Harold and Rose who did not know yet- truly happy for Ephram and his daughter. Amy was the only one who seemed to be a little sad and nervous. Sad because she thought that if Paul, Alberto and Francesca were leaving today, it meant that Ephram and Ella would be leaving in less than a week. Nervous because she had not seen Ephram since Christmas Eve and they had not speak to each other since her suggestion. She was afraid he might be avoiding her.

Two hours later, they finished lunch and were enjoying the last minutes together. Although their flight was in less than an hour, nobody wanted to leave.

"Guys, we really have to leave now." Ephram finally said.

"Let's just leave next week with you guys." Fran said kissing Ella who was seating in her lap. "I'm not very good at good byes." She added.

"You better get used to them." Alberto said bitterly.

"I know." His wife said sadly.

"What's going on?" Amy asked. Ephram looked at her and a small appeared on his thin lips. Ever body else looked at them without saying a thing.

"I'm staying." Ephram said.

"Me too." Ella added with excitement.

"What?" Amy asked stunned.

"I'll leave next week to get everything ready and I'll be back soon… for good." She looked around her, not quite believing him. She saw how his family was beaming and how Bright and Hannah were smirking at her. He was coming back. It hit her like a rock and for a few second she lost her ability to speak. She smiled widely and this was all he needed. He turned to his friends.

"Guys it's now or never. Move!" He ordered. They all got up and gathered outside of the restaurant. Hugs and handshakes were exchanged. Fran promised to send a gift for Hannah and Bright's child. Paul said he would be calling Andy more often and Alberto promised Bright to send him a bottle of Italian wine. Amy hugged Francesca tightly.

"Thank you for everything." She whispered in her ears.

"I didn't do anything." Fran replied. Amy looked at Ephram over her shoulder.

"Yeah you did, you brought him back." They smiled at each other and hugged one more time. Alberto, Paul, Ephram, Ella and Fran got in the car and left.

"Take care." Nina screamed and they waved from the windows' car.

Half an hour later, they arrived at the airport. They got out of the car and Alberto and Ephram took the luggage. They headed toward the door. Ephram was about to enter but Fran stopped him.

"Let's get over with it now and here." He nodded and put the luggage down. Fran tried as hard as she could to fight the tears back but it was too hard. She kneeled, took Ella in her arms, and cried in her shoulder.

"Don't cry aunt Fran, we'll see each other soon." Fran smiled at the little girl.

"Promise?"

"Promise." The girl nodded and threw her tiny arms around her neck for another hug.

"Take care of your daddy for me, okay?" the girl nodded once more and pulled away. She looked at her grandpa and smiled at him. He took her up in his arms and kissed her cheek.

"I'm going to miss you, piccolina.'

"Me too Grandpa." She said and burrowed her head in his neck. Fran threw her arms around Ephram's neck and let more tears fall down her cheeks.

"Come on, Fran. Stop crying we'll see each other soon." She nodded and pulled away. Ephram turned to look at her husband. They hugged manly.

"See you next week."

"That's right." Ephram said. They all waved one last time and the three left without looking back. Ephram looked at his daughter who seemed sad. He took her hand and smiled at her.

"Come on piccolina. Let's go back." Ella nodded and smiled at her father.

A/N: here it is, the new chapter of "Meant to be." Hope you enjoyed it. Please review and I'll update as soon as I can.

By the way I also updated Home.


	8. Lucas

Disclaimer: I still don't own Everwood.

A/N: I know, I know! You all hate me. I'm a horrible person who doesn't deserve the lovely reviews you're leaving her. I'm really sorry for the endless delay but I have five ongoing story now and I'm a college student so it's really hard to find a balance. But I promise to try harder.

Anyway, here's chapter 8 of 'Meant to be'. I hope you'll like it. Please let me know what you thought.

**_Chapter eight: Lucas._**

Casually and to no one's surprise, things settled down pretty easily.

Ephram had gone back to Florence a week after Alberto, Francesca and Paul. Knowing that he was going to be busy like crazy, Andy offered him to keep Ella with them. It had been a difficult decision to make but he knew it was in everyone's interest to accept his father's offer. That way, he would be able to work on the house and the moving without worrying about his daughter. Andy also knew that it was going to be tough for his son to leave everything he had build so far behind; he would certainly need some time alone with his memories, whether they were good or not. Ephram had been afraid to leave Ella alone with them because even if they were her family, they also were quasi-strangers. It could have been a traumatic experience for her but Ephram trusted Nina and his father, he knew they would do anything to make things easier for her. The parting had been difficult but once the shock of seeing her father go away on the plane; Ella quickly got used to live in the Browns household. Ephram had called everyday, sometimes even twice a day to make sure that she would not forget the sound of his voice. She would ramble for long minutes about her new life in Everwood, how great everybody was and how well treated she was. He only lived for these minutes on the phone with her.

As predicted, the month he spent alone in his soon-to-be-old-home had been overwhelming. Each box he had packed was a step away from the life he had cherished. Sure, losing Carla was the hardest thing that happened to him but he still loved this place. It was the place he grew in as a man, it was Ella's first home and they was no word strong enough to express how much he was going to miss this place. The hardest thing he had done was saying good-bye to his Italian family. Many tears had fallen but they assured him that it was the best decision he had ever made and that they will come as often as possible.

Now he was back to Everwood and after a rather exhausting month, it was like a long and relaxing night of sleep to be back home. With the help of Rose, he had found a pretty house, which happened to be in Amy's neighbourhood.

It was late at night; he had not finished settling down and that kept him from sleeping. He decided it was high time to hang the hall chandelier that was waiting in the middle of the entrance hall for a week. He knew he should be waiting for Bright or his father to help him but his ego took over his rational thinking. He climbed on a chair, holding the rather massive chandelier above his head.

He should have waited for some help… Ten minutes later, Amy was awoken by a knock at her door. She got out of bed, trying not to wake Lucas, put on a dressing gown and headed downstairs, cursing under her breath. She opened her door, ready to yell at the person who standing behind it but she instead of screaming, her mouth hung open and her eyes widened. Ephram was standing in front her, with an apologetic look on his face. His face and t-shirt were covered with blood. He was holding a piece of tissue on his head over what seemed to be a deep wound. She quickly stepped aside and let him come inside.

"What happened?" she said her voice full of concern. She came closer and carefully took away the tissue. She was so close to him that for a brief second he got lost in his her sweet chocolate eyes. It was 1AM and she looked absolutely stunning. Her silk dressing gown was loosening a little and he could see her bare legs. He averted his eyes and tried to focus on the present but it was really hard, having her this close, touching him and her breath tickling his skin. The concern in her eyes was almost too much for him to handle. "Ephram?" she asked worried. He might be badly injured.

"I'm stupid." He said with a smile and her features softened a little. "I couldn't sleep and thought that it could be a good idea to hang a chandelier on my own." He explained sarcasm obvious in his voice. She shook her head in disbelief but was not able to hide the smile that made his way on her face.

"Men." She mumbled and he chuckled, causing a wave of pain to wash over him. He cringed and her smile faded. "Come on; let's take a look at it." She said leading him to the kitchen. He sat on one the chair and she headed to the bathroom to get the first-aid kit. She quickly came back and sat next to him. He turned to face her and she put each of her legs at his sides, as if she wanted to keep him from moving. She leaned forward and took a better look at his wound. She made a face and he smiled, thinking it was very cute.

"This is really deep. Ephram why on earth would you do that?" she asked frowning with exasperation.

"I guess my stupid male ego is the reason for this entire ordeal." He said sighing and she smiled.

"Where's Ella?" she asked.

"Delia is home with her. I didn't wake them up." She nodded. "I'm sorry to bother in the middle of the night…" he was cut short by a male voice coming from behind them.

"Amy, what's wrong?" an almost naked man asked, standing in the frame of the door. He was tall, blond, in good shape and he was only wearing only boxers. He was looking at Ephram with confusion. "Who is this?" he asked looking back at Amy. She got up, clearly embarrassed. She averted her eyes away from Ephram and tightened her dressing gown around herself in a protective manner.

"Lucas, this is my old friend Ephram. Ephram this is uh…" she hesitated.

"Lucas, her _boyfriend_." Lucas said turning his attention back to Ephram and emphasising the last word. Ephram glanced at Amy who was suddenly interested by her bare foot.

"Uh… Nice to meet you." Ephram replied and Lucas nodded as a response. "I'm sorry I didn't mean to bother you guys. I didn't know you had company." He added looking back at Amy who finally looked at him with an unreadable expression in her eyes. He did not know if it was embarrassment or guilt, maybe both. "I uh just didn't know where else to go." He added just to avoid the embarrassing silence.

"It's ok, man." Lucas said with a genuine smile. "I'll go back to bed. Nice to meet you and I hope you'll be ok." He said smiling again and put a quick peck on Amy's cheek before living her alone with Ephram. Ephram felt a pang of jealousy in his stomach and it brought him back 13 years ago. They looked at each other, waiting for the other one to speak first but neither knew how to react or what to say. Amy decided it would be safe to get her attention back to the wound. Ephram had stopped bleeding but it was pretty deep.

"Uh- I'm gonna go to my car take some medical supply, you need stitches." She said almost running from the kitchen. Ephram sat back on his chair and had to fight the urge to leave. He could not do that. Why would he? They were friends and he was not supposed to be jealous. He had spent ten years away from her and now that she was back in his life, he was not going to ruin everything by acting like a jealous freak. He had grown up and now he knew that when you are an adult, things are a little more complicated than in high school. He sighed sadly and wished things were different.

He took a decision.

He would be Amy's friend, even if it meant looking her having a life with some one else. After all, he had done the same thing. From now on, they would be friends and with a sad smile, he thought that it could be worse.

A/N: I know it's short, but it's an update nonetheless. I'm not very happy with this chapter. I could have done better, I think. Please give me your opinion, they're the one that matter.


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